Just Another Player
by Leopardheart-Naux-Kadaj
Summary: A fifteenth Nobody finds her way into the Organization... and what plans have they got up their sleeves? Set in the modern worlds so slightly AU I suppose. R&R please and thanks!


**Just Another Player**

_A/N: This is my first "serious" Kingdom Hearts, multi-chapter story. The title, Just Another Player, is temporary. I don't own Kingdom Hearts because Disney and Square Enix do; therefore I own none of the characters and ideas of a Nobody. I do, however, own my Original Character (OC) Nauxrela Kaito and some of the theories I have about Nobodies. I would really appreciate constructive criticism and reviews of any sort, really. Please, don't flame my story. If it's that bad, it's really not worth it. _

_(Also, which I'm sure you'll catch onto, the story is mostly told from Nauxrela's point of view, just for a head's up.) _

Chapter One: _Number XV, the Dreamwalker_

**_"This is a town with no history... welcome to mystery..." ~Welcome To Mystery _**

(July, The Castle That Never Was)

They, Organization XIII, were everything I wasn't. They were headstrong, confident, gifted, ruthless, determined and deadly. What had I gotten myself into by accepting myself as one of them? All I knew was that I couldn't back out, turn tail and flee. I couldn't show the cowardly girl that lurked beneath my brave face.

I found myself at one of their meetings, sitting in my seat next to Number XIII, whose name I couldn't remember. I hadn't been here long, only about a month or two, and I usually spent my time locked away in my room, away from everyone else because honestly, I was kind of scared of being awkward or downright stupid.

"Alright, so what information have we gathered as of late?" Number I, or Xemnas—even I, the newbie knew his name, if no one else's—was asking us.

There was a noisy shuffling of papers as the fourteen of us tried to organize our information and make it presentable to the Superior. I tried to act casual but figuring since I was the newbie, I was bound to be picked on and I could not afford to screw up. I, being last on the list of the members of Organization XIII, needed to earn respect if my information was to be actually considered valuable.

"I have a meeting with Amelia McFarley next month—an assistant to the British Prime Minister," Number X was explaining, checking over the date on his iPhone and his notes. "Yes, it's on the twenty-third, nine a.m. sharp."

"Very good, Luxord. Hopefully she will concur with you that Minister Winston is off in head," Xemnas replied, nodding to Luxord.

"That makes it that we have, or will have, strong contacts in three countries," Number VI pointed out, taking note of this and scribbling _Britain_ onto a scrap of paper and tucking it into his folder. "Great Britain, Germany and France."

"What happened to the United States of America?" Xemnas asked sharply, his amber eyes flashing as they shot to Number IX.

The green-eyed Nobody stiffened and tried not to stammer, just shy of being scared under Xemnas's paralyzing glare. "America's a, uh, just shy of being a super power, Xemnas. The president's very busy and very hard to persuade and…"

Seeing his comrade faltering, Number VI interrupted him softly. "Demyx does have a point, Xemnas. Not to insult your judgment, but to take down the United States, you should have done something similar to 'divide-and-conquer' in which you controlled different portions of the massive country before you could access it as a whole. Maybe supplying him an accomplice to take over different districts would prove successful…?"

The faux-hawked blonde known as Demyx puffed out an almost inaudible sigh of relief. "Thanks, Zexion."

The gray-haired teenager named Zexion fixed his black wire-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose and shot Number IX a look similar to, _You owe me._

I had to resist the urge to chuckle because Xemnas was about to speak.

"Since you so loyally defended him, why don't you help the poor fool out?" Xemnas said, giving Demyx a cold sideways look.

"Yes sir," Zexion replied, nodding to the Superior.

Number VI subtly gave Number IX a look that read, _Now you really owe me, _to which Demyx ducked his head sheepishly, flushing light pink which I suppose could be a weak apology.

Xemnas surveyed the rest of us. "Anything anyone would like to share? No withholding information—that would be treacherous of you."

I organized my very few loose-leaf papers in my open sleek black folder, arranging them in importance order. I wasn't entirely sure of my information, but I couldn't let that show—oh, the troubles of being "a dream-walker" and all of my information being gathered from the subconscious of others. Slowly I straightened up and coughed quietly.

"I have information on Xion's position," I began, thankful that my alto voice didn't falter and was strong and clear. "She's headed for Sora's facility."

Number VIII tapped on the Bluetooth in his ear, listening carefully to the message he was receiving through the wireless earpiece. His thin eyebrows furrowed, his luminescent eyes narrowing, darkening as he tapped it off again.

"Well, Axel?" Xemnas prompted, interested in what was so important that he had to take a call in the middle of the meeting.

Axel locked eyes with Xemnas, his expression grim and serious. "According to the head Assassin Nobody I left in charge at the Detainment Station of Memories, Sora has escaped, albeit with some help. She's the only Assassin Nobody left; for Sora's unwarranted saviors eliminated the rest. We don't have any insight on where he's headed."

Xemnas sighed in frustration, along with many others. "We cannot have Sora and Xion together," Xemnas began before his piercing amber eyes onto mine. "Nauxrela, we need Xion's location at all times and you need to find out exactly where Sora is. Axel, keep watch on Roxas—you know him best so if he begins to act like his counterparts, alert me. Roxas, if you begin to lose memories, begin fainting, et cetera, alert Axel without hesitation."

The three of us nodded obediently—ah, the small, ruffle-haired blonde beside me was Roxas.

"Otherwise, be on watch for signs of Sora, Xion, and Sora's… ahem… friends," Xemnas said to the rest of the group. "You're dismissed."

Numerous papers were shuffled with sounds bordering obnoxious and office chairs squeaked as thirteen Nobodies stood and left the conference room. I noticed the pink-haired Number XI talking to the only other female besides me in the Organization XIII, Number XII in hushed tones as I stood up, last to leave.

I headed to my temporary room at the Castle That Never Was, fiddling with the upper zipper on my black leather cloak—a nervous habit I'd acquired since arriving here.

"Hey, Nauxrela, isn't it?"

I stopped messing with my zipper and turned around to see Number VIII and Number XIII behind me. I recognized Axel's voice from earlier and addressed the tall ginger Nobody. "Yeah, I'm Nauxrela... Nauxrela Kaito. But you can call me Naux if you want…"

I offered him my leather-gloved hand and he shook it. My hand felt very small incased in his, but his hand was warm.

"You're kinda awkward, aren't ya?" Axel pointed out before chuckling good-naturedly. "But you're new. You'll get used to this."

I gave into small smile. "I suppose."

"You busy today?" Axel asked. "Got any plans?"

I noticed Roxas looking up at Axel, not in the way you respectfully looked up at someone when they were speaking, but with something… different in his sapphire eyes, something foreign to me. Something that Axel didn't look at me with. I felt the urge to decline his request subtly hidden in his questions—I didn't want to impose on the two of them. They shared something I'd never seen before, and though I wanted to understand it, to be a part of it too, I couldn't make myself do it.

"No—I mean, yes I have plans and-and I have to do… to do things. Important things," I replied as awkwardly as possible. _Good job Naux! Way to be a friggin' dork… _

Axel looked kind of disappointed that I had turned the two of them down—and I think he caught on that I was sorta lying about being too busy—but Roxas only shrugged, glancing at me with a cool mixture of unhappiness and yet not disappointment. I had the feeling Roxas neither liked nor disliked me, but Axel at least wanted to attempt a relationship besides being coworkers.

"Maybe another time?" Axel asked, giving me a semi-hopeful look.

I nodded a tiny, unsure nod. "Um, yeah. That'll work."

Axel smiled then. "Great, see ya then. C'mon Roxas, let's go get some sea-salt ice-cream."

With that, I turned and headed back to my room a little faster than before. I entered my bedroom, and slammed the door marked XV semi-harshly. Looking back on the few minutes that passed between me turning Axel and Roxas down for hanging out and entering my room, I realized I had no real idea as to why exactly I had turned them down. They had offered, right? Axel wanted to be around me, right? Sure, Axel and Roxas had… a… a… something-I-couldn't-name, and I had a little tracking to do, but it could have been… fun.

I sighed. I needed to get over this shyness of mine. It left me feeling—oh, who was I kidding? I was a Nobody. I didn't "feel" anything. Which is how I got here in the first place…

I sat down on my hotel room-like bed heavily, thinking back to the day that I joined Organization XIII.

*…..….…*….….…*…..….…*

(April; a little town in Tennessee)

I had just gotten out of school, and I was headed…. somewhere. I didn't have a home per se—I didn't have a lot to call mine, really. No memories, no home, no family, no… What were they called? Right, friends, crushes, and the like. Just… my mind and body and school supplies were actually mine.

Anyway, I walked down the street, a few yards from the turn to take an old forest path I found peaceful to wander when out of the corner of my eye I saw a black SUV come down the road at a creepily slow pace. I glanced over my shoulder and they seemed to speed up as I acknowledged them. It was slightly unnerving that they seemed to be following me so I picked up my jogging pace. To my dislike, they sped up too.

I broke out into a full-out run as I turned down the forest path strewn with fallen leaves from last fall. I heard the engine rev up and nearly skid as the driver pressed the gas. Apparently, I was not going to escape my followers. I tried to think of who in the world would want me, but the few memories I managed to have knowledge of gave me nothing. I slung my backpack off my shoulders quickly, nearly getting tangled in the strap to lessen the weight and allow me more speed.

I slowed up a little bit when I heard the engine cut off abruptly, foolishly thinking they'd given up the chase. But as soon as I heard a door slam mightily, I returned to my sprinting. My follower easily kept up with me so I pushed with my all.

Out of nowhere, I tripped and rolled. I could swear the root of the plant actually reached out and tripped me, as crazy as that sounded. Before I could recover and stand and hopefully be running again, someone had me pinned to the ground, my body roughly pressed against the dirt pathway. The stalker had my wrists held painfully behind me and I watched an especially thick flower stem grow and then slither over to me, and tie my hands behind my back.

What the freaking he—?

"Be still and keep quiet," ordered the attacker as he hoisted me up and threw me over his shoulder as if I were baggage.

"What the—? No! Let go of me!" I shrieked, punctuating each word with a kick or a struggle to get out of his grasp. "What is going on?"

"I'll explain when you calm down," he said quietly, as he headed back to the parked black SUV.

I stilled in his arms, breathing heavily. I needed to know what was happening and why they were kidnapping me and I needed to know it right now.

"I'm Marluxia Carmento, Number XII of Organization XIII. I have orders to take you to our headquarters," he explained. "You are Nauxrela Kaito, are you not?"

I had about a thousand questions racking my brain but I nodded against his back in answer to his question.

"The head of Organization XIII, the Superior named Xemnas has ordered for me to bring you to him as soon as possible. And as his loyal servant, I, along with my team, am doing just that," Marluxia went on, glancing over his shoulder at my limp form.

I looked up just then. "Hey, wait, is your hair… pink?"

Marluxia set his jaw in the slightest of annoyance before resuming a calm face. "Yes, it's naturally that color. Do you have a problem with that?"

Seeing as this pink-haired man just tackled me, somehow willed a flower to grow and turn into a nifty pair of handcuffs and was now easily carrying me back to his SUV, I had absolutely no problem with this.

We were at the passenger side rear door before I knew it. With the hand he was not holding me steady on his broad shoulder with, he opened the door, and proceeded to nearly toss me into the middle seat. I ungracefully tumbled into the SUV, my legs hanging over the seat and my head in the lap of…someone and I managed to be upside-down.

After the momentary pain subsided as Marluxia slammed the backdoor closed, I looked up at the owner of the lap in which my head was currently resting on.

In a short phrase, he was, well, gorgeous. He had gravity-defying spiky vibrant red hair, toxic green eyes and these little reverse purple tear drops beneath his thickly-lashed eyes. His skin tone was pale, but not too pale like he's never seen the sun. His lips—oh my goodness—they were full and quirked into a slight smirk as he looked down at me.

"Hi there. The name's Axel Lietner. A-X-E-L L-I-E-T-N-E-R; got it memorized?" Axel introduced himself, still smirking. "I'm assuming you're Nauxrela Kaito?"

I wondered if he just smirked at everyone that way. I nodded in response. "I have no idea what I'm doing here…"

The driver, a blonde woman with her bangs gelled back to look like antennae, rolled her eyes at me. "Didn't Marluxia already explain this to you?"

I looked toward her as much as I could in my awkward position. "He got as far as saying you all were in Organization XIII, but I don't understand what exactly that has to do with me."

The driver sighed as if I were incompetent. "Xemnas, our…leader, has brought to our attention that you probably possess powers that can help us reach our goal and fulfill our mission yada yada yada. Apparently, you're a Nobody like us that has extraordinary powers that none of us have. Though,"—she glanced into the mirror to look at me—"you don't look like much. You look weak and small."

I glared at her. "I am not small! I'm only sixteen, sheesh! And gee, thanks, a nobody, like I haven't heard that before!"

Axel chuckled at me. "Feisty one, eh? Looks like you've got competition, Larxene. Nauxrela, you are kind of small, y'know in comparison to the rest of us, 'cept maybe Roxas and Xion. Anyway, she didn't mean a nobody as in your worthless—"

"Which she probably is—"

"Larxene, shut it. Anyway, she meant a Nobody with a capital N. A heartless being that hardly has right to be, and yet, it is," Axel began, slightly poetically. "You are the heartless other half of someone else. You have their memories and such. An altered version, but nearly the same person nonetheless."

"Heartless? You mean as in, feeling-less?" I asked. I could deal with that. Come to think of it, now that he's mentioned it, I really don't recall me feeling much of any emotion for any person or any reason at all. And, obviously, he couldn't mean…

"Well, partially. And in a literal sense, too," Axel clarified.

It all snapped into perspective. I couldn't remember feeling my heartbeat, ever feeling a pulse. I remember the school nurse's bizarre expression when she went to see if I was okay after one of my would-soon-be teachers and adopted-for-a-short-while parents found me lying on the side of the road. I really didn't have a heart. Huh.

"Then…then how do we exist?" I asked, not understanding. This was impossible, crazy. I couldn't grasp it.

"Quite frankly, I don't know. I think there is some sort of vessel that pumps an alternate form of blood at such a low frequency we can't feel it as a pulse. But, for now, all you need to know and accept that you are Nauxrela Kaito, Nobody Number XV. You could have a catchy little nickname if we knew your power," Axel told me.

I nodded.

"Could you please get out of my lap?"

I didn't meet his eyes, apologizing as I struggled to sit up. The ginger helped me sit up next to him and broke off my handcuffs easily. Wait, I smelled something burning…. Was he a pyrotechnic, or fire wielder? These people are so… impossible and strange.

"Oh, by the way, change," Larxene, the driver, said casually, tossing some clothing at me from assumedly from her lap.

I caught it clumsily and unfolded it. A black leather hooded cloak and black tight pants. "Here?" I asked shakily.

"No, Nauxrela, we're going to make you do a tuck-and-roll, let you change on the side of the road and make you run back to us," Larxene snapped sarcastically. "Hey, that doesn't sound too bad…"

Axel kicked her seat from his place behind her. "Hey, witch, chill. And yes," he said to me now, "right here. We won't look."

"But, you're still there," I mumbled uncomfortably.

"Hey, we're all like a huge, non-affectionate, hardly-related family. Otherwise, no shame," the ginger pyrotechnic said helpfully.

"I do have shame! Lots of it!"

Marluxia sighed from in front of me. "Just change already. None of us are interested in you," the pink-haired man muttered bluntly.

"Especially not me," Larxene said under her breath, with a disgusted wrinkle of her nose.

As quickly as possible, I stripped out my school uniform and into the Organization XIII cloak and pants. After I donned that, Axel passed me a few different pairs of boots from the back seat until I found a knee-high set that actually fit.

"Nice tattoo, by the way," Axel complimented.

I felt my face flush with heat. I recalled him glancing over at me to check if I was done changing—which thankfully I had been—as I finished zipping my cloak, the lower zipper that was settled just below my hips. I had a half-a-heart birthmark on my hip.

"It's a birthmark actually… It's always been there, ever since I can remember, which trust me, isn't much."

Axel merely nodded.

The rest of the ride and the next few days were spent in silence. A comfortable silence. And I soon forgot most of everything I'd ever known before that day.

*…..….…..*…..…*…...*

I broke out of my reverie as the memories cut off, since I basically had nothing interesting happen to me since then. Well, Xemnas officially declared me Number XV. No 'catchy little nickname' known by everyone just yet since only just recently did I discover what I can do—but personally, I thought "The Dreamwalker" would be kind of cool. And I'm not too sure if that's really what I can do.

I can basically stalk through the subconscious mind of other people, but only when I am unconscious.

Speaking of unconscious… I knew I had to track down Xion or Sora. I wasn't exactly sure how this whole dream-walking went down or the finer points of it but I would hopefully find out. I curled up on my bed, glanced at my red florescent-numbered alarm clock—8:53 p.m.—and attempted to sleep. Hm, a little on the early side, but I had no idea in hell where Sora or Xion were and so maybe they were already asleep or easier to contact. I closed my eyes and relaxed, breathing out softly and slowly.

Maybe Organization XIII wasn't so bad. Maybe they weren't so strange. Maybe this is where I could really belong.

*…..*…*…*…*

_Whew, finally finished that sucker! First chapter finished. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions on my grammar etc, or pairing suggestions, or hell, even an emotional outburst, please leave it in the form of a review. If you have anything you would consider a spoiler to ask me about, send me a private message and I'll be happy to answer anything for you. Will be updated at your requests and, uh, as soon as it's actually written down haha Hope you enjoyed this~!_

_With "love,"_

Leopardheart-Naux-Kadaj


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